Don’t be Scared, jump in and try Linux, the waters Lovely!

Don’t be Scared, jump in and try Linux, the waters Lovely!

Are you scared to try to try Linux? You’re not alone! For people bought up who have only ever lived in a “windows” universe it can appear to be an alien concept. If you even know of its existence and many don’t, you consider it only for geeks, as it’s sure to clunky and unusable … Prepare to be amazed then, modern Linux Distributions or “distros” are simple and user friendly in the main (there are hundreds of releases depending on your requirement). They configure an amazing array of hardware out the out the box (I’ve yet to have a piece of hardware that isn’t automatically configured) and have a vast library of programs and apps.

With that said you may ask why should I bother, windows is what I know and works! But Linux is free and it’s easy to find versions supported with updates for a minimum 4/5 years. Windows has a long life span also you say , well yes but with system requirements increasing and the fact you can’t transfer windows on one computer to another you are stuck with your existing version unless you want to spend more money (at least until windows 10 offers a time limited upgrade from 7 and 8 it is said). Linux evolves over time and often has an upgrade path to a more updated version and even if you stay with your existing version your applications will be updated. Unlike windows, Linux in all its forms has a basic Kernel or core operating system and built on that is your desktop environment which offers a different user interface and can be changed easily (ish) to suit your requirements or taste..

The ultimate benefit of Linux is the absence of all the Malware and viruses, because of the nature of Linux it is “Almost impregnable”, any major change requires the user to input a password, the software in the databases is being continually improved and check by an army of self-motivated programmers because of the open source nature of the system (as opposed to a handful of Microsoft employees). It can be quite frightening at first coming from Windows and sitting behind layers of security but you quickly adapt and realise that as long as your browser is up to date and you at least exercise caution in the sites you visit off the mainstream you are more secure than a windows setup with the most expensive antivirus scanner , malware scanner , firewalls etc. etc. . So put it this way if a devious person wanted to write a virus they would have to contend with different flavours of Linux , a password entry requiring the user to authorise running it and a virtual zero day threat response for the software producers who can quickly update things to negate the problem along with a virtual universal rollout ! So it’s no surprise there are no known viruses in the wild and if any were about they would have no effect on an updated system so would be harmless .Why would they bother then? Windows is much easier prey …

So give one of the popular distros a try, you can try it live by running it from the disc to have a go first, i’m sure you will be surprised!… My choice would be Mint, Ubuntu or Elementary …